Stars can shine, but only teams can fly

The week began with Irishman Brian O'Driscoll's try in the corner against Australia. A crack of light appeared in the Australian defence and he was through, his body airborne and fully extended, ball in one outstretched hand.

We had been watching O'Driscoll. He had come among us with a special aura, the one that accompanies being described as the best in the world in your position.

Early, we noted the speed and sureness of his ball-handling as he snapped passes left and right. We saw his fire when he tackled George Smith, a squat lump of a man with dreadlocks, taking him head-on, eventually bringing him to ground with a handful of braided hair. A commentator saw O'Driscoll apologise, but it was the instinctive response of a fiercely committed man.

Then came the try that felt like a goal in a big soccer game. The Irish had struck, their champion was through, the game could not be won purely on defence, as had seemed the Australian intention.

A lot has been said about England, the tournament favourite, being boring to watch. The Australians are hardly light entertainment. The only one who played with any great freedom against Ireland was Smith, who digs into packs like dogs dig into gardens when a bone's nearby.

His teammates seemed pre-programmed, but perhaps that, in part, is the nature of the game. A lot of what I have read in my bid to enhance my understanding of rugby union for the purposes of this World Cup could come out of an instruction manual on building aeroplanes, lots of earnest discussions about which parts have to be fitted together in what order if the thing is to be made to fly. And Australia is not flying.

During the week, the Australian team received a lecture from ARU official John O'Neill in which he reportedly lacerated them for their performances to date, reminding the players of everything that has been done for them, like the new training facility erected at Coff's Harbour. That should help a lot. They already look a worried team. Now they have to bear in mind the ARU's capital expenditure program as well.

Coach Eddie Jones is Australia's designer. Is he, as his critics allege, too conservative? For tonight's match against Scotland, Eddie's gone for three former rugby league players in the back row. There is some sort of irony in the fact that as the Australian rugby union team approaches its day of destiny, it throws its lot behind its former rugby league players.

Privately, union people tend to dismiss league as a game of Wham! Bam! Thankyou Liam!

To this end, Eddie retained Wendell Sailor, rugby union's Othello, the warrior who will never know if he is accepted by the people for whom he is fighting. If you want to hear the superior tone of rugby union relative to league, listen to discussions of Wendell's defensive deficiencies.

But it is true that when the Australians got pumped by the Poms at Telstra Dome in June, full-back Chris Latham kept signalling to Wendell like a slightly irate car park attendant, motioning him forward, bringing him back. Latham did not look pleased to have this extra duty and did not have a good match. But equally true is that when the English tired in the second half, Wendell started blasting big holes in their ranks.

In the most promising of this weekend's quarter-finals, New Zealand meets South Africa. The first half of the Springboks' match with England was when I first got seriously interested in this tournament. In the first half, the Poms were magnificent - quick, strong and skilful. The period was one long demonstration of their prowess. But when the second half began, it was the Springboks who did the attacking and they attacked in a thoughtful, positive way. They played like a team with at least one big win in them.

I have been asked if this column means I have gone over to the English game. Not at all. I measure sport by its ability to absorb me, to take me out of myself, to give me a holiday of the mind and senses.

No sport does that as often for me as Australian football. Indeed, I persist in my notion that Jonny Wilkinson (and now Brian O'Driscoll) are made for the Australian game.

The club to act is obviously Richmond. What I propose is that Jonny goes to Punt Road in the hope that he proves the missing link in Richo's game. In return, the Tigers can offer Ray Hall as a trade.